On the heels of our own FCA new brand identity announcement, we’re igniting conversations around the importance of establishing a company identity that is relevant to businesses today. For our team of designers, it goes beyond how we identify ourselves; this extends to how we help our clients establish their own brand identity and recognize when it’s time to refresh that identity as the business itself evolves.
Photos courtesy of FCA
We have recognized over the years that our clients have retired or auctioned-off their art programs in exchange for a more focused expression of their brand within their workspaces. An art program that reflected the artistic taste of leadership was often disconnected and failed to engage with the occupants of the space.
Today, we assist clients in creating their unique spatial identity that tells the unique story of their company and reflects a brand’s ethos and “personality.” With the accelerated changes to our world through technology, the pandemic, and its impact on today’s workforce, the space of 10 years ago (or even just two years ago), more than likely does not fully reflect who you are as a business in 2022.
Does the brand identity engage both remote and in-office employees? Given the nature of the architecture and design industry, our scope of work is constantly changing as the demands and desires for the built environment evolve; this is happening for our client base across the workplace, healthcare, education, and science and technology market sectors. Each has their own unique brand story to tell and celebrate.
Make Your Brand Story Known
In order to attract and retain talented individuals in the current work climate, it’s important for companies to be authentic; building trust in their brand is critical to solidifying the culture among their employees and loyalty from their customers. The physical workplace is one manifestation of this. For potential employees, the first impression walking into a potential workspace is a key factor in determining whether the company ‘walks the walk’.
Does the company express a dedication to sustainability, yet the space uses endangered woods in its décor? Is the company health-centric yet have a lineup of vending machines full of processed snacks? These subliminal signals or the absence of testimony reflects the authenticity of your brand.
On the flip side, using visual branding can be a powerful tool that thoughtfully expresses your company story. It can also be playful and subliminal in the telling, such as a historic element of the company that is visually exaggerated or connected to today’s work. The workplace can be a tool to reflect company values by expressing them in a way that is inspirational, connects with the company’s mission and customers, and engages the employee in their day-to-day activities.
For us at FCA, the impact of the last two years has propelled us into self-reflection of our mission: ‘Challenge the Expected, Inspire Smart Design.” As part of our rebrand process, we were able to provide greater clarity in our guiding principles: “People, Place, Planet and Process”, as well as our values “Authenticity, Agility, Responsibility, Collaboration and Creativity,” both from the company’s purpose and our individual responsibility to our brand. As we evolve the next generation of workplace strategy and planning process for our own workplace, these are key factors in our approach to integrate culture and brand into our design.
The Process
We encourage our clients to explore different ways of expressing their business story through materials, artwork, color, shape, history, objects and messaging. How do you convey what you believe in so that it’s engaging and reflected in your space where people come together to meet, brainstorm, and socialize? What will potential clients and future employees walk away with when they visit your office? For example, for some clients, it is about sustainability, which can be communicated through a noticeably paperless office, recycling programs or tying in walls of biophilia to bring the green of outdoors in.
We are helping clients understand that conveying their brand is not just importing their logo color into their office design, as the logo color in itself can’t convey the company mission, values and culture. When a client is ready to dig deeper, we journey with them to discover how to use brand identity and their story to trigger connections.
Expression in an environment that fosters mentorship amongst employees, greater inclusivity, and longstanding partnerships and trust among clients, or a strong channel of communication from interns through to leadership can be interactive elements such as storyboards, communal posting venues or the visualization of company accomplishments. These are simply a few ideas to consider when revisiting your brand identity, or even just when approaching the idea of being more open to change.
The Blend of Physical and Digital Experiences
The workplace is being transformed into an even more agile space through the adoption of a remote and hybrid work model, making brand expression a more vital tool in building and maintaining company culture. We’ve increased the value of brand in our culture centric offices and hyper-connected virtual worlds.
As architects and designers, we are predominantly trained to focus on the creation of the physical space. However, looking ahead, we are charged to put greater consideration into the connections between the physical and digital worlds. It can be as simple as being attentive to the placement of a background brand feature within a conference room, so it is correctly positioned for those viewing remotely, or the right acoustical treatment to enable speech clarity.
While we are still at the early stages of this heightened acceptance of blended virtual and physical worlds, there is a new horizon of AI, augmented reality, virtual reality, QR code encryption, occupancy sensors, IoT and employee tracking. Each digital interface must be aligned to users with respect given to culture and brand. The revolution of space and digital is rapidly upon us and we would do well to acknowledge the symbiotic relationship between the two as a game-changing advantage.
John Campbell, president of FCA, is a specialist in workplace programming, planning, and design strategies. To help achieve more efficient workplaces and to understand the work processes of clients, he works closely with them, either in brainstorming groups or in an observatory role. As new technology becomes more pervasive in offices and as business needs change, John works to ensure that his clients’ environments continue to fit their needs.